Request for baseball sparks dialogue at CR school board meeting

Sarah Barbansarah.barban@doverpost.comTwitter: @SarahDoverPost

Friday

Mar 22, 2013 at 10:24 AMMar 22, 2013 at 10:33 AM

The discussion over the possibility of baseball coming to district middle schools continued at Tuesday's school board meeting. Boys won't be hitting the field this year, according to district officials.

Baron Stevenson addressed the Caesar Rodney school board during the public comment portion of its regular board meeting on Tuesday evening. Stevenson made a request for a baseball program to be started in the district middle schools. According to the district, the funds are not currently available to allow for the creation of a program, so Stevenson offered a few solutions.

"I'd like to see if I could help create a booster group," he said. "I've done this with my travel ball team before. We once raised $7,000 in one day."

He also offered the solution of making the program more affordable by having baseball and softball share one field, as well as having the baseball team and the softball team arrange their schedule so that the teams would share a bus and both teams would play the same school on the same day.

State Rep. Don Blakey (R-Camden) also gave public comment.

"Baseball is a wonderful sport and I endorse it, I endorse anything that will keep our kids active and out of trouble, growing and in tune with anything that the school district is about," he said. "I think this is a good opportunity for all parties to sit down and actually go through a rational discussion as to how it could happen, what it would take to happen and all the ramifications involved."

Caesar Rodney Superintendent Kevin Fitzgerald said the board has developed a research and development committee which, with the help of the middle school athletic directors, will look at the potential startup cost and sustainability requirements of adding sports at the middle school. Volley ball and lacrosse were requested prior to baseball and therefore all three sports would have to be considered.

The research and development committee will likely be ready to make a presentation regarding the proposed sports programs in June, Fitzgerald said.